Pedestrian who died in accident remembered as animal lover, avid walker

Sioux Falls man who didn't own car dies after being hit by one

Nov. 23, 2013

David Stitt and his dog, Cinder. / Facebook

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Memorials

SERVICE: A memorial will be held at 11 a.m. today at First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls. DONATIONS: Gifts to the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society in David Stitt’s name can be made online: sfhumanesociety.com/donate

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David Stitt was an animal lover who didn’t have a mean bone in his body, friends say.

Stitt died from injuries sustained when he was struck by a car two weeks earlier.

He had turned his love of animals into a part-time job at Mini-Critters in Sioux Falls. He established own dog-walking service last summer.

Stitt worked at Mini-Critters for several years, spending time with animals boarded at the business.

“He was a very kind, generous person,” she said. “He was always upbeat.”

Stitt died Wednesday at age 38. He was crossing against the traffic signal Nov. 8 at 57th Street and Western Avenue when he was hit by a car driving east.

Mary Ash, 33, was the driver. Police determined she was not speeding or otherwise driving illegally, and she will not be charged in the collision.

“Based on the dark clothing he was wearing and that he was running across the street — all those factors just culminated in the collision,” Sioux Police Lt. Jerome Miller said.

Stitt overcame obstacles early in his life. When he was 7, he fell 15 feet from a tree he had climbed and landed on his head, according to an article by Living Stones News, published in May 2007. He had a tube trachea put in his throat so he could breathe, and had to re-learn how to walk and talk.

Bob Ruedebusch, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church, said Stitt introduced himself with that article when Ruedebusch and the associated pastor first came to the church a year ago.

“He was very outgoing, trying to let us know who he was, but also helping us to see some of the struggles he had to work through,” he said.

Stitt was active in the church choir with his parents.

“He loved our church, he loved the church choir and the people in it, and if you were missing from church choir, he’d call up and say, ‘Are you all right? You weren’t at church choir last night,’” said Jodi Stitt, David’s mother. “He kind of kept track of people that way. ... He was a special young man.”

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He had lasting brain damage from the fall, which made his response time a bit slower, so he didn’t drive much in the city. Mostly, his mother said, he preferred to get around on foot, and often would walk 10 to 15 miles in a day.

“He didn’t have a car, and he got along fine,” Jodi Stitt said. “People were kind and gave him rides wherever he needed to go.”

Walking became one of Stitt’s passions. He walked to work every day, Butterworth said, and if he arrived a few minutes early for his shift at Mini-Critters, he would walk around outside. He kept a tally of how far he walked each day.

“If they didn’t know David personally, they knew him by his walking,” she said.

Stitt attended schools in Sioux Falls and Aberdeen before graduating from Worthington (Minn.) High School in 1995. He moved to Sioux Falls in 1998.

Friends said he often could be found walking with his beloved miniature Australian shepherd, Cinder, which he adopted when he worked at Mini-Critters.

He devoted much of his time to Cinder and would call Butterworth to ask her questions about the dog’s care, she said.

“If David would ever be leaving the apartment without Cinder, he would say, ‘Bye-bye honey, I will be back later,’ before he left,” said Danielle Meier, a friend of Stitt.